Paramedics talk to a women who is a suspect in a stabbing before she was transported to the hospital on Friday, June 21, 2013. / Nathan Papes/News-Leader

Springfield Police stopped a car on Boonville Avenue after an alleged argument over $5 led to a stabbing on Commercial Street. / Nathan Papes/News-Leader

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An alleged argument over $5 could land a pregnant 16-year-old in prison for life.

Police say Jerri L. Smiley, of Springfield, was involved in a fight on Commercial Street last month in which she stabbed a woman in the shoulder, puncturing her lung.

According to a probable cause statement, witnesses say a fight broke out at 3211 W. Commercial St. on June 21 after Smiley and her boyfriend went to pick up $5 they were owed for some skates.

Witnesses say Smiley started to leave, but after walking to the car, turned around and stabbed a woman in the shoulder, according to the statement.

A witness at the scene told police she told Smiley to leave and Smiley “came at her with the knife and tried to stab her in the chest” but was blocked. The witness said Smiley’s boyfriend ran up and grabbed the knife from Smiley and both left in the car, according to the statement.

Police said another man at the scene was taken to the hospital after he appeared to suffer a heart attack.

While leaving the scene, Smiley allegedly called police and said she had stabbed someone and was on the way to the police station. An officer stopped the car at Webster and Boonville before it reached the station, according to the statement.

The officer took the knife, which appeared to have blood stains on it, and Smiley said she stabbed the woman, according to police.

Medical personal were called to the scene because Smiley told police she might be suffering complications related to her pregnancy. While medical personal assisted Smiley, she told them she stabbed one of the women at the scene and said, “I saw a knife and I stuck one of them with it,” according to the statement.

Police said Smiley was taken to the hospital because she reported feeling ill.

Smiley’s boyfriend told police this is the second physical altercation Smiley has been in while pregnant.

Prosecutors say the woman who was stabbed had her left lung punctured and had to have a chest tube inserted.

“The defendant is a danger to the community based on the severity of this offense and the fact that she attacked the victim without provocation,” a bond recommendation document says, “and based on the reported pattern of violence.”

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If Smiley were able to post bond, she would be under 24-hour house arrest, with two exceptions — she can go to and from appointments with her defense attorney, and to and from medical appointments.

Her bond is currently set at $30,000, though her attorney filed a motion for bond reduction on Tuesday.

Smiley is charged with first-degree assault, which carries a possible maximum penalty of life in prison.

The juvenile court in Greene County determined that Smiley be certified to be charged as an adult. All people under the age of 17 are first sent to juvenile authorities, but certain allegations require those authorities to file a motion to dismiss — essentially handing the case over to the adult court.

Bill Prince, senior legal counsel for the Greene County Juvenile Office, said those offenses are often referred to as the “seven deadly sins.”

They include:

• First and second degree murder

• First-degree assault

• Forcible rape

• Forcible sodomy

• First-degree robbery

• Distribution of a controlled substance

Prince said the judge also considers several factors about the juvenile in question, including age, prior offenses, and sophistication of the juvenile.

Essentially, the court tries to determine if juvenile authorities have resources available to improve the juvenile’s behavior.

One of those considerations is how mature the juvenile is, Prince said. For example, if a juvenile had a child, that person could be seen as already living like an adult, he said.